Today, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), filed a petition with
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calling for the immediate
withdrawal of approvals for all animal drug applications for
arsenic-containing compounds used in animal feed. These additives are
commonly used in poultry production to induce faster weight gain and
create the appearance of a healthy color in meat from chickens, turkeys
and hogs. The petition was supported by a coalition of food and farm
groups around the country.

“The fact that arsenic – a known and powerful carcinogen – in these
feed additives leads to arsenic residue in chicken is now well known,”
said the Center for Food Safety’s Executive Director Andrew Kimbrell.
“FDA’s failure to investigate the mounting evidence that these
compounds are unsafe is a breach of the public trust, and the use of
arsenic-containing compounds in food animal production is a needless
and dangerous risk to human health.”

“Arsenic can be poisonous. Its use in
animal feed, therefore, is unnecessarily risky and has not been shown
to be safe given the latest science,” said David Wallinga, M.D. of the
IATP. “To best protect public health, all avoidable exposures to
arsenic should be eliminated. FDA can and should act.”

Arsenic-containing compounds have been approved additives to animal feed since the 1940s and are currently used in chicken, turkey and swine
production. Most arsenic-containing animal feed additives are not used
to treat sickness. Instead, arsenicals are generally approved for
“increased weight gain, improved feed efficiency, and improved
pigmentation.” The European Union has never approved the use of
arsenicals in animal feed, acknowledging the lack of science supporting
health or safety standards for such use.

Arsenic-containing compounds are most widely used in chicken
production, and most chickens receive arsenic-laced feed. In 2004 and
2005, the IATP tested for total arsenic in retail packages of raw
chicken and in “fast food” chicken sandwiches and nuggets. Test results
revealed detectable levels of arsenic in the majority of both
supermarket and fast food chicken with higher levels found in brands of
chicken raised conventionally. Lower or non-detectable levels of
arsenic were found in certified organic and other “premium” brands
where the use of arsenic-containing feed additives were either legally
prohibited or claimed not to have been used. These results strongly
suggest that use of arsenic-containing compounds in poultry feed leads
to arsenic residues in U.S. marketed and eaten chicken.

Two weeks ago, U.S. Representative Steve Israel of New York
announced legislation calling for a ban on the use of the arsenical
compound roxarsone in poultry feed. His bill, the “Poison-Free Poultry
Act of 2009,” would prohibit all uses of roxarsone as a food additive
in poultry. The groups applaud the bill, but maintain that it does not
go far enough. Their petition not only calls for a ban on roxarsone,
but also on Arsanilic acid, Nitarsone, and Carbarsone, commonly used
compounds which contain arsenicals.

The groups include: Food Animal Concerns Trust, Oregon Physicians
for Social Responsibility, San Francisco Physicians for Social
Responsibility, Food and Water Watch, Center for Biological Diversity,
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Center for Environmental
Health, Institute for a Sustainable Future, Health Care Without Harm
and Ecology Center of Michigan.

To read the full petition, visit: http://truefoodnow.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/arsenic-petition-12-8-09-final.pdf .

For IATP’s report, visit: Playing Chicken: Avoiding Arsenic in Your Meat, visit: http://www.iatp.org/iatp/publications.cfm?accountID=421&refID=80529.

The Center for Food Safety is national, non-profit,
membership organization, founded in 1997, that works to protect human
health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food
production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of
sustainable agriculture. On the web at: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice
to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems. On the web
at: www.iatp.org